I am reading the way the three of you grew up and I'm wondering if we all lived in the same house.

another country poor girl here.

We moved from the trailer, where I shared the "hall" bedroom with my sister (nothing like your entire family walking thru your room to get to their rooms) to a house further back on the hill in the woods that my Dad built, except that parts were done only when we had money. And probably would not have happened if other relatives didnt have better paying jobs (like running a bulldozer to dig the foundation and a mason to lay the block). The dump was further back on our property. But all those things about paper bags, foil, butter containers....yep...I get that.

Forgot to mention that house was started 42 years ago, still not done, Dad died two years ago. at one point all 5 of us kids shared one bedroom. it was loads of fun, every night " good night john boy"

(14-01-2015 08:00 PM)Bows and Arrows Wrote: I am reading the way the three of you grew up and I'm wondering if we all lived in the same house.

another country poor girl here.

We moved from the trailer, where I shared the "hall" bedroom with my sister (nothing like your entire family walking thru your room to get to their rooms) to a house further back on the hill in the woods that my Dad built, except that parts were done only when we had money. And probably would not have happened if other relatives didnt have better paying jobs (like running a bulldozer to dig the foundation and a mason to lay the block). The dump was further back on our property. But all those things about paper bags, foil, butter containers....yep...I get that.

Forgot to mention that house was started 42 years ago, still not done, Dad died two years ago. at one point all 5 of us kids shared one bedroom. it was loads of fun, every night " good night john boy"

Being poor isn't so bad in the country but in the city is must be more difficult and stressful. I had no idea we were poor and as a kid you just assume everyone lives the way you do especially if you don't have a TV, which we didn't.

We did have an outhouse (lucky us!) which I almost fell into when I was four years old.

LOL. This is starting to remind me of the Monty Python, "We were so poor" skit.

(13-01-2015 03:44 PM)Bows and Arrows Wrote: ETA: you can get a six pack of glasses at IKEA for about $3.

IKEA is the fucking bomb. I think Fight Club gave it a bad rep. I haven't purchased a bad thing yet from there, and after the move and 'rebuild' I just went through, I am ever grateful that their prices are competitive with or beat Wal-marts.

I like using paper or glass (paper bags, wax paper, mason jars, etc) but I will fully admit it's an aesthetic "vintage" thing. There's a hipster inside me clawing and cussing to get out. I enjoy the lack of waste it involves, but truthfully I don't understand why plastic storage would have to be eliminated as opposed to plastic "waste" like wrappers. I've never seen anything compelling coming from worry about BPA shit.

In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus

there are different grades of plastic for different uses. Some are meant to only be used a limited amount if times, or don't do well in microwaves and diswashers and when exposed can start breaking down.

I would just rather avoid what I can and not bother checking every package. I am all about simple. I use the milk jug for milk, when its gone it goes into recycling. When I'm done with the butter, it goes in the recycling bin too...if I need to keep leftovers, I have a stash of glass or safe plastics that I use.

(15-01-2015 11:52 AM)Momsurroundedbyboys Wrote: My other issue is that most plastics, even if they're stamped with a #2 or whatever on the bottom, actually are made from multiple types of plastics that sometimes can't be recycled.

Like a water bottle....the main part of the bottle might be 2 but the neck, is usually different and the cap is completely different again.

Our local recycling doesn't want any plastic food storage containers at all, regardless of how they're labeled on the bottom. It's wild.

for the longest time our recycling centers didnt want pizza boxes, (we have curbside pickup and we don't have to sort), but they kept being inundated with them so they eventually found a program that does recycle them. I guess my 4 years of putting them in the bin anyway finally worked.

I'm not saying you should put the mixed plastic in your bin, but I would.

(15-01-2015 11:52 AM)Momsurroundedbyboys Wrote: My other issue is that most plastics, even if they're stamped with a #2 or whatever on the bottom, actually are made from multiple types of plastics that sometimes can't be recycled.

Like a water bottle....the main part of the bottle might be 2 but the neck, is usually different and the cap is completely different again.

Our local recycling doesn't want any plastic food storage containers at all, regardless of how they're labeled on the bottom. It's wild.

for the longest time our recycling centers didnt want pizza boxes, (we have curbside pickup and we don't have to sort), but they kept being inundated with them so they eventually found a program that does recycle them. I guess my 4 years of putting them in the bin anyway finally worked.

I'm not saying you should put the mixed plastic in your bin, but I would.

Honestly...I do....because...it saves room in the garbage can.

But as if to knock me down, reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch, cut me into little pieces